![]() ![]() A second crewed SpaceX mission took off in November. ![]() SpaceX made history last May with the first crewed launch of a Crew Dragon on a mission called Demo-2, which carried NASA astronauts Douglas Hurley and Robert Behnken to the ISS for a four-month stay. Aubrey Gemignani/NASA/Getty Imagesįor years, SpaceX worked under a $2.6 billion fixed-price contract to develop its Crew Dragon spacecraft under NASA’s Commercial Crew program, which for the first time in space agency history handed over the task of building and testing a crew-worthy spacecraft to the private sector. But that number will quickly drop back down to seven when four other astronauts hitch a ride home from the station on April 28.Ī SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket with the company's Crew Dragon spacecraft onboard is seen as it is rolled out of the horizontal integration facility at Launch Complex 39A as preparations continue for the Crew-2 mission, on Apat NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida. That’ll put the space station’s total staff at 11 - one of the largest crews the ISS has ever hosted. Kimbrough, McArthur, Pesquet, and Hoshide will join seven astronauts already on board the station, four of whom arrived on a different SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule in November. The Crew Dragon is expected to dock with the ISS around 5:10 am ET Saturday. The astronauts’ Crew Dragon will separate from the rocket shortly after reaching Earth’s orbit - traveling at speeds topping 17,000 miles per hour - and the crew will spend nearly a full day aboard the spacecraft as it slowly maneuvers toward the 21-year-old International Space Station, which orbits about 250 miles above ground. And, if looming thunderstorms don’t intervene, the rocket will take off at 5:49 am ET. The Crew Dragon capsule soared into space atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket that was charred with soot from its previous missionThe journey is slated to begin at Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Friday, when they’ll board the capsule atop one of SpaceX’s 200-foot-tall Falcon 9 rockets. ![]() Also on board are French astronaut Thomas Pesquet of the European Space Agency, and Akihiko Hoshide from Japan. NASA astronauts Shane Kimbrough and Megan McArthur are on board the capsule, which is slated to dock with the International Space Station around 5 am ET Saturday. Though the company has re-flown boosters and spacecraft dozens of times on satellite and cargo launches over the past several years, this will mark the first time the company will reuse hardware for a crewed mission. SpaceX has long made reusability a cornerstone of its business plan, hoping that recovering and refurbishing hardware will drive down the cost of spaceflight. ![]() Joel Kowsky/NASAįriday’s SpaceX launch will make use of the same rocket booster that powered SpaceX’s Crew-1 mission in November, as well as the same spacecraft, dubbed “ Endeavour,” that was used on SpaceX historic Demo-2 mission last May. A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket with the company's Crew Dragon spacecraft onboard is seen on the launch pad at Launch Complex 39A as preparations continue for the Crew-2 mission, Tuesday, April 20, 2021, at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. ![]()
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